In the end
by tenamanda1988
Summary: Not every story has a happy ending. SasuNaru hints if looked for, R


"See... Sasuke-teme... I told you... that I'd save you."

How useless those words seemed now, coming from paling lips adorned with their own blood, slowly trickling down the narrow chin. Surely only the liquid of life cast onto snow could be more striking. Sasuke stared down with now plain black eyes at his best friends dying form.

Naruto had taken a heavy hit, many in fact. Possibly why the fist sized puncture through his lungs had not healed like his shoulder at the Valley of the End, the seemingly endless supply of red chakra from the Demon fox finally exhausted. Instead the gory hole remained, occasionally spitting out a fresh flush of blood with each struggling heartbeat. And that idiot, he was grinning. Grinning! Like he'd won a great victory instead of lying there, dying on the muddy remains of the battlefield.

"Dobe..." Saskue whispered, his twined fingers around Naruto's hand momentarily clenching at the recently formed memories.

After nearly three years of hiding, training, learning, of running, Sasuke found himself confronted by his former teammate, There was nothing spectacular about the location, just another empty meadow in a long line of empty meadows. The wind was fair and the sun shone, intercepted only by the occasional lonely cloud. it didn't look like the place where blood and violence would stain the earth.

Across the open expanse of green he'd met Naruto's eyes, only his, ignoring the presence of Orochimaru and Kabuto and the idiots that had followed the blondefoolhere. He'd stared into brilliant blue fervently, seeing the same show of devotion... no, obsession, that urge to meet each other and fight, clash. It was what he looked forward to, that feeling as he fought Naruto. He didn't even know how to class it, fun maybe... but the idea that he had fun fighting that idiot, it disturbed him.

Which was probably why he'd felt such rage when the battle began, when Naruto had dissapeared in a blur of orange. Not towards him, no, he charged at Orochimaru himself. A scarily blind, jealous rage had welled up then, one startingly similar to how he'd felt when he'd leaned that Itachi chased the blonde shinobi and the demon beast that dwelled within him.

He hadn't been able to contemplate the idea that Naruto would pay such attention to anyone other than him, he couldn't stand that others might chase after his former team mate. He hated Sakura for it, Iruka, Kakashi... anyone Naruto might ignore him in favour of.

They'd teased each other, fighting swift, unfinished battles over time but this had been for real. They'd both known it, and that dumb blonde had gone for _Orochimaru!_

Sasuke had blindly ran in with an uncharacteristic lack of caution, determined to avert Naruto's course and fight him himself, only to have to swiftly dodge a kunai from Team 7's replacement, Sai. From then on he'd set about trying to kill the interfering shinobi as swiftly as possible to put things the way they should be.

Many minutes later, admist chopped up earth, pained cries and bizarrely surreal mixes of black, silver, pink and blonde hair floating across his sharingan enhanced vision the world had stopped. Or so it seemed.

The serpents head rolled, spilling poisonous dark blood across the grass. Every combatant had paused to watch the macabre display, then Naruto had smiled at him, admist the dying flare of Kyuubi's chakra. Blue bled back into his eyes and sharp fangs shrank back into longer than average canines, all merging into a coloured blur as Naruto fell backwards, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

Forgetting about everything then he'd walked to the orange clad teenager and knelt by his side, unthinkingly taking tight hold of the tanned fingers while his Katana rested uneasily in his other hands. So here he sat, watching Naruto dying beside him.

He hadn't even felt when Sai's kunai had penetrated his back as he walked away, slipping out of his stomach to hit the ground, his mind in too much of a daze to even notice when he almost tripped over the damn thing.

Now though, as he watches Naruto's pained breaths, rasping alonside his own, augmented by the background soundtrack of Sakura and Sai working together to finish off the slime Kabuto, he feels the first twinges of anger. He's dying after all, he's certain of it. Naruto's fault, he distracted him, didn't do what he was supposed to do and he wonders if he should be angry at the stupid dying blonde. He hasn't finished yet, Itachi still lived, Orochimaru was his chance for power and now that whole future was ruined in the blow of a kunai. His whole reason for continuing to exist after his families deaths was now impossible...

A good thing his existence was now ending, for living without his dream would be torture.

He didn't think Naruto had even noticed the wound pouring blood from Sasuke's stomach and part of him refused the rest to tell him, wanting the blonde shinobi to be able to cling to that last piece of hope that he'd done some good for his best friend. The curse seal was evaporating from his neck, for all the good it did.

His vision suddenly shook and he swayed dizzily, pitching sideways onto the dirt, his katana skidding away to lie on the grass somewhere unseen.

"Oi... teme, what're you... doing down here?"

Naruto, looking terribly tired yet peaceful, turned his head to look at him. His normally dazzling white teeth pink from the film of blood that bubbles with each breath. Sasuke tasted copper, and knew he was echoing the sentiment.

"You're hurt too right?" he whispers a moment later, looking saddened.

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to lie or to remain silent, at the end of their existence at least he should be honest with Naruto. "Yes... I believe I'm dying."

"Oh..." Naruto briefly closed his eyes in pain and Sasuke actually feared that they wouldn't open again, "Guess... I failed."

"Hn... idiot." Sasuke muttered, "Not your fault."

Naruto sighed and squeezed his fingers around Sasuke's, "Are you mad at me?"

He paused a while, then finally as he knew time was running out, his vision beginning to darken, "No."

"I'm glad." Sasuke is fairly certain he see's that smile reform. Good, Naruto should die with a smile on his face.

"Shut up... dobe." He manages, its like he's suffocating in this darkness, Naruto's touch was the light holding onto him.

"Just let go Sasuke... it'll be alright." He hears faintly, then brilliant blue dissapeared from him behind thick lashes and tanned skin and he's left with no choice. He believes him. Sasuke closed his eyes, and knew no more.

The last thing that flashed in his miind before oblivion was that memory, of two young boys, similar in their loneliness and pain standing with two fingers intertwined. Finding that in the end, they weren't quite so alone as they thought.

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In the end they were brought back to Konoha together, Sakura beating Sai's reservations at bringing back a traitor's body. Under the dull gazes of friends and teachers they were buried side by side, there were tears for both, though the majority fell on Naruto's behalf. Their names were added to the monument alongside everyone else's who had died in Konoha's service, Tsunade's tearful wrath intimidating the council members into allowing it.

Then... life went on. The names of Sasuke and Naruto faded into a tragic legend, told to children by parents, romanticised and emphasised until no one could remember the truth anymore.

To a blonde chid and his dark haired companion playing on the swingset it meant little, both laughing it off despite the strange tingle in their minds at the names. Such things didn't matter after all when you were young.

Giggling the blonde tugged his friends hand, both dashing off to the Ichiraku Ramen bar, pushing the tale out of sight and out of mind.

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My first Naruto fic, I'm pretty shocked at how... depressing it turned out to be, which is why I tossed out that little bit at the end. I couldn' stand to leave it so dark. This all came about froma theory that a friend and I share, that Naruto will not end happily and today i doodled a picture of a possible death scene. Right now its really hard to see an ending without the death of either Sasuke or Naruto, or possibly both as I wrote here. I'd love to see a happy ending but... eh, damn Sasuke! . 

Feel free to read SasuNaru into this as you will or not at all if thats your preference. I'm gonna go pet my kitties to cheer myself up :/


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